Pete Townshend’s First Published Song Was Released by a Merseybeat Band in 1964, Not The Who (Then Known as The Detours)

By age 11, Pete Townshend wrote his first song, “Bubbles,” co-written with his friend Graham Beard. Soon after, Townshend’s grandmother, Emma, gifted him with his first guitar for Christmas, and he worked on putting music to his song.

“My first [friend] was Graham Beard—my best friend (though I was perhaps not his best) from the age of 4 until about 11, when we went to watch Bill Haley play, and I picked up a guitar,” said Townshend. “Then I was befriended by an assortment of fellows, from among whom John Entwistle rose as the most constant until I was 17.”

At the start of his earliest days with The Who, when they were known as The Detours, then briefly as The High Numbers, Townshend was already writing songs for other bands during the 1960s. His earliest composition, “It Was You,” was released by The Naturals in 1964—a Merseybeat group from Essex, England, made up of vocalist Ricky Potter, guitarist Doug Ellis, rhythm guitarist Bob O’Neale, bassist Mike Wakelin, and drummer Roy Heather—as a B-side to their song “Look At Me Now.”

“We recorded my first song, ‘It Was You,’ in late 1963 at the home studio of Barry Gray, who wrote music for children’s TV puppet series like ‘Thunderbirds’ and ‘Fireball XL5,’” recounted Townshend in his 2012 memoir, Who I Am. “Dick James, The Beatles’ co-publisher at the time, heard ‘It Was You’ and signed me to his company.”

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Townshend’s youthfully naive lyrics reflect on a head-over-heels love.

I was a guy who no love had passed him by
Then I met you and now I realize
It was you, it was you that set my heart a beatin’
I never knew, never knew, love would come without meaning
Now I can live with love like a man should
I love you more than anyone else could

It was you, it was you who set my heart a-sighin’
I never knew, never knew love could come without tryin’

The song was later recorded by the Tasmanian band Chaos and Co. in 1966. “It wasn’t a hit,” added Townshend, “but the fact that it was published at all gave me tremendous confidence.”

After getting some songs published, Townshend said he felt he had more power within the Who. “I felt I now had a right to speak up about the band’s musical direction, and even get bossy about it,” said Townshend. “Roger [Daltrey] was definitely in charge, but there was a new tension between us. We were both really keen to make it and had our own ideas about how to do so. Still, we developed a grudging respect for one another that would last a lifetime.”

Photo: Chris Morphet/Redferns